Oranges and Lemons
by Aerys Krystie
Summary: A forgotten past, a dismal future, a bright future, a forgotten future, a tragic present and a lost destination. Will change the story type. In the meantime, please read all warnings inside.
1. Oranges and Leoms I

**~Oranges and Lemons~**

**By:** Aerys Krystie.

**Theme:** AU, XOver.

**Plot:** A soap opera star, star of the basketball team, head of the chess club, leaders of the drama club, champion and runner-up of sword fighting, the champion of fist fighting, head cheerleader, a less-than-sane buddy, a new comer and two adults that are only eighteen and all best friends.

All that plus a forgotten past, a dismal future, a bright future, a forgotten future, a tragic present and a lost destination.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, sexual tension, minor underage drinking, drug use, bad acting, harsh language, angst, character death and OOC-ness.

**Disclaimer:** The characters of Kingdom Hearts II, Final Fantasy VII/VIII/X and DNAngel _do not_ belong to me. I make no profit from this story.

**A/N:** Being true to my usual stories, I naturally had to cross this over with DNAngel. The creepy part, it's not a Krad-centered story! *gasp* with that said, I hope you enjoy it.

During the revision, somehow this story became a serious one. I don't know how the hell it happened but it did. If you enjoyed the older version of it, I'm sorry.

* * *

Staring out the window of the train, Demyx sighed wearily. He wasn't sure how everyone was going to take his return. Without a doubt, Demyx was going to be expecting some for of bodily harm to happen to him. Sometimes, Demyx hated himself. He had yet to let anyone know he was returning as he knew how they would react when they found out. But if he was actually there, in the house…It was a different story.

Without realizing it, Demyx's mind drifted off to each of the members in the house. He smiled and shook his head. It made him wonder why he left in the first place. He frowned slightly. _Why did I leave?_ he asked himself. He thought back but couldn't find a reason and the last thing Demyx wanted was to ask anyone what the reason was. Just in case it was something that hurt them. He hoped they would all be able to bury the past.

The train began to slow with a screech and Demyx stood, grabbing his suitcase. It was all he left with and over the years he was away, he hadn't gotten anything else. Demyx glanced around at the few other passengers in the carriage. He stared at a group of three, trying to place their faces. He shook his head, figuring they looked familiar because Leon had a scar similar to the boy sitting between his friends.

The train jerked to a halt and Demyx headed towards the doors, which opened with a hiss. He stepped onto the platform and looked around. As he expected, there was no-one from the house and Demyx made his way out of the train station. He glanced over his shoulder as a couple reunited and half smiled. He guessed that whatever happened on a business trip stayed with the trip.

Demyx headed away from the 'happy couple' and set out to find the tram. He couldn't be bothered walking the entire way to the house, knowing that the tram wouldn't take him that close to it. It would cut a minute and a half off the total time, something that Demyx was known for doing. Any shortcut possible and he was all over it.

Demyx continued walking until he found the tram and jogged to catch up to it. He froze and looked over his shoulder when he heard someone call out. He wasn't sure if it was meant for him but decided to look and see what was happening anyway.

"Hey, get out of the way! I've lost all ability of changing direction!" some kid on a skateboard called out.

Demyx continued to stare as the kid headed right for him. It didn't seem possible, in Demyx's mind that this could happen. Instead he watched and fell backwards as the kid collided with him. His suitcase fell to the floor and popped open. He groaned and started collecting his clothing, not wanting any of the people rubbernecking to see his underwear.

"Oh, gosh! I'm really sorry about that! But in all fairness, I did warn you," the kid said as he helped Demyx.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't get out of the way but it was just so surreal." Demyx shoved his clothing back into the crappy suitcase and forced the locks on it. He glanced at the kid. Upon closer inspection, Demyx saw it wasn't a kid but a teenager, around his age. Someone else that looked really familiar. "Is school out already?"

The other teen shrugged and got to his feet. "No idea. I didn't attend today."

Demyx stared into amethyst eyes, probably looking clueless as the teen laughed and picked up his skateboard. "Sorry, I don't mean to stare."

The teen continued to chuckle and flicked his fringe out of his eyes, which fell back. "No problem. I'm kinda used to it. See ya 'round!"

Demyx watched as the teen pushed through the crowd and took off, flipping the board. Demyx blinked and wondered where he had seen that guy before. The sound of the tram brought him out of his thoughts as he remembered where he was and why he was there. Taking hold of the suitcase, Demyx walked up to the tram and boarded.

Ninety seconds later, Demyx got off and walked the rest of the way to the house. He knocked on the large doors and when no-one answer, he tried the handle. He discovered it was locked and sighed. His first day back and already he had to commit a felony. Sitting and waiting just wasn't an option at this point, for reasons unknown.

Demyx went around back, checking all the windows along the way. When he found none of them were unlocked or open, he sat down on the back stairs, sighing. His eyes slid over the backyard, seeing a large grassy area, an herb garden on either side of the stairs, chairs and a table on the porch, a chess table beside a pond, and a rose garden oppose the pond. Demyx got to his feet and looked up, there was a window open. He looked at the posts holding up the back veranda and figured they'd be suitable.

Demyx glanced around to make sure he was alone before the climbed up one of the posts. He wondered, briefly, how everyone else seemed to make it look so easy. He pulled himself onto the veranda and treaded carefully, making his way towards the open window. He slipped in and cheered. He glanced around the bedroom. He didn't remember any gloomy, depressed people when he was living there. Not thinking about it anymore, Demyx left the bedroom, closed the door and headed downstairs.

Demyx unlocked the front door and brought his suitcase into the house. He heard something break and spun around. He ran towards the direction of the noise, finding it to be the kitchen. His eyes slid along the counters and found the source of the noise. A cat had knocked over a glass.

"Hi, kitty," Demyx greeted as he went into the laundry, connected to the kitchen and got the dustpan and broom. He cleaned up the mess, making sure he got all the glass and disposed of it. He returned the dustpan and broom also and picked up the cat that was rubbing itself along his legs.

Still holding the cat, Demyx stepped into the kitchen and looked around. Nearly four years since he had last seen those counters. The layout of the kitchen hadn't changed and Demyx assumed the insanity of the occupants hadn't either. He only joked when he called the house Twilight's Insane Asylum but the named caught on and soon everyone was calling it that.

Demyx opened the huge refrigerator and stared at the contents. He reached in and helped himself to a bottle of water. The started squirming in his arms and Demyx let it jump to the floor. He opened the water, still looking around. He didn't have time to think about what he was going to do until the others got home because he could hear them.

"Who the fuck left the door open?" Demyx knew that voice anywhere, Axel.

"Were we robbed?" Kairi's voice hasn't changed.

"Shastealer! We are you, boy?" Demyx couldn't quite pinpoint that voice. Though it made him ask himself, _who the hell names their cat Shastealer?_

"If we were robbed, I hope they didn't look under my bed. Not even _I'm_ game enough to go under there!" That could have been Roxas.

"You don't seem to have a problem going under there for your magazines." Axel again, teasing as always.

"Shut up! I'm not into porn!" Yep, Roxas. Always denying something to be true.

"That's not what I saw."

"You guys are meant to be the adults! Do something!"

"How about you stop taking Cloud's magazines?" That was Leon. There was no mistaking that voice.

Demyx watched as the crowd moved to the kitchen entrance, still arguing between each other. No-one seemed to notice him for a few minutes until Tifa looked in his direction and stared at him. That was another minute until she found her voice.

"Demyx?"

Everyone stopped their bickering to stare, blankly, at the solitary person standing in front of the laundry room. Everyone was silent for a minute until grins or glares broke out. Demyx remarked on how most of them hadn't changed. Well, they all had. Most of them had gotten taller and their voices had gotten a little deeper but they looked the same as they did four years ago.

"Well, it's a surprise to see you here, Demyx. Take you four years to realize you couldn't make it on your own?"

Oh, yes. Axel's taunting. How could anyone miss that? Demyx shrugged. "Don't know unless you try, right?"

Demyx looked over the group. Kairi, Selphie, Cloud, Leon, Sora, Riku, Roxas, Axel, Krad, Tifa and lastly Zexion. None of them were wearing the school uniform, apart from Kairi and Selphie. Krad was wearing the uniform of a school that Demyx had seen somewhere.

"Are you back for good?" Leon asked as he took the bottle of water from Demyx, taking a mouthful as he waited for an answer.

"Unless you guys don't want."

"Don't even think about it, Axel." Kairi and Krad glared at the redhead.

"No-one's moved into your room," Zexion muttered as he left the kitchen.

The air in the kitchen got a little tense as everyone gave awkward smiles that froze. Leon sighed. "No-one's cleaned it since he left, have they?"

Demyx grinned as everyone's excuses overlapped and as they blamed someone else. It was quality entertainment without having to leave the house. He tried not to snicker as he knew he would be in a load of trouble with them if he did and he didn't want to suffer Leon's wrath.

Leon held up a hand. "You're all grounded for a week."

"You can't ground me!" Krad declared as he stepped forward, almost like he was challenge Leon's authority.

Everyone suddenly found an excuse to get out of the room and darted for the stairs. Demyx decided it would be best if he did the same thing. He didn't feel ready to be dragged into something that didn't concern him. He left the kitchen, going up the stairs to the third floor.

As he wandered, Demyx noticed the place had been redone. The walls had been repainted a pale yellow and everyone's room had, no doubt, been updated. Which would explain the black room he entered when he broke in. He stopped outside his door and rolled his eyes when he saw some idiot had painted over it. He tried the handle and growled when the door didn't budge.

Demyx prepared himself to kick the door in but stopped when he heard shouting. It wasn't the usual banter that happened whenever Axel got bored. It sounded almost like hatred. He raised an eyebrow and couldn't believe the voices travelled that far. It was then that he noticed the house was dead silent.

Leaving the door alone for a minute, Demyx headed down the second floor landing, where the other occupants had gathered. Demyx couldn't really remember Krad or Leon but as far as he could remember, Leon never needed to shout at someone. Krad had always been overly passionate and got into heated discussions often.

Demyx glanced at Roxas, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. Roxas shook his head like he didn't know what was happening. Everyone in this house knew what was happening, even when it was top secret. It was just impossible for no-one not to know was going on. Demyx knew it was done out of love but sometimes; it got to be a little annoying.

"Go to hell, you pompous wanker!"

Demyx's eyes widened. He would never have had the balls to talk to Leon like that, which is probably why he left. Demyx blended in with the others, as they tried to look casual as Krad ran up the stairs, undoing the tie around his neck, muttering angrily. He either didn't notice everyone there or chose to ignore it. He went to his bedroom and slammed the door. The sound echoed up and down the almost empty hallway.

Demyx shook his head. Some things stayed the same, like Roxas, Sora, Kairi, Tifa, Cloud and Zexion. But something else had changed between Leon and Krad. Demyx decided he could figure it out later, as he went back up to the third floor and kicked in the door. He sighed when it broke in two. Now he had to deal with no privacy until he fixed it. If it could be fixed. He threw his suitcase on the bed and choked on the dust cloud that came up. It was going to take days to clear out all the dust.

"Hey, runaway."

Demyx's back went rigid and he was curious as to when that nickname would die off. He looked over his shoulder. "What, Riku?"

Riku leaned on the doorframe, his arms crossed. "Look, none of us are sure why you ditched us. But as long as you don't do it again, we'll support and help you get settled. So if you need a hand with anything, don't hesitate or whatever." Riku pushed himself off the frame and disappeared down the hallway.

Demyx smiled and shook his head. It wasn't going to bed as bad he thought. They all seemed to have no problem with him slipping back into their lives and Demyx missed them all, though he would never openly admit that. _I wonder if any of them will let me sleep with them until this room is dust free?_

"Don't count on it."

Demyx spun around, staring at Tifa, his heart racing. He couldn't believe he had forgotten that trait of hers. Tifa was somewhat of a mind reader. Demyx used to think she was just insane until she started picking up stuff he was thinking. He then realized it was because she was able to read people's body language and put two and two together. It was still creepy.

"You can bunk on the sofa, though. Dinner will be ready at six."

"Tifa?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened between Leon and Krad?"

Tifa laughed but stopped when she remembered that Demyx had been absent for four years. "Oh, Leon's been riding Krad kind of hard lately because his grades are beginning to slip. We're all trying to help him and he's doing his best. Leon knows that, too, but he's just worried that Krad will forget about his studies completely."

Demyx nodded, thinking it through as he opened his suitcase and Tifa left the doorway. He pawed through his clothing and stopped. He couldn't change and he had nowhere to put his clothing at the moment. He looked at the dusty set of draws and hung his head. It was going to take forever to get this room clean again.

"Runaway! Heads up!"

Demyx looked up in time to get a water balloon to the face. He wiped his eyes and glared at Riku, who smirked and took off down the hallway again. Downstairs he could hear Leon shouting at the others to not have water fights in the house. Demyx sat on the bed again and sighed. He reminded himself, again, that some things never change. It was good to be home.

* * *

Krad stared at the television, blankly. He could feel drool slipping out of the corner of his mouth but he didn't care. The game that Roxas and Sora were playing just sapped all the energy and intelligent thoughts from him. His eyes slid to the controller that Sora was using and how he was furiously pressing the blue button, eyes focused, eyebrows drawn in together, tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. Sora suddenly cheered and put the controller down. He playfully poked Roxas in the chest.

"Who's the best now?"

"You."

Sora grinned evilly. "Say it."

"I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby," Roxas said dejectedly.

"And don't you ever forget it!" Sora declared triumphantly.

Wiping the side of his mouth, Krad giggled and picked up the book he was reading. "You two are such dorks."

Sora and Roxas faced Krad. "Sorry we're not TV stars!" they said.

"You need to be a full on loser for that. How's the homework going?"

"Who's a TV star?"

Krad glanced over his shoulder at Demyx and shook his head. Maybe where Demyx lived didn't believe in television. It wouldn't have surprised Krad if that were true. After all, not many people enjoy soap operas about a gay teen, who can never find his perfect partner.

"Krad is," Roxas replied as he turned the game console off.

Krad faced Demyx and looked heart broken, the look he'd had to pull off in the last thirteen episodes of the series. The only thing missing was 'Karrad's best friend' to cheer him up. Krad smiled when a light seemed to go on above Demyx's head.

"No way! I thought you looked familiar but I thought it was just because I knew you before I moved."

Sora placed his hands behind his head as he watched Krad and Demyx. Krad probably had to deal with fans all the time but this was the first time Sora had seen Krad with one. It was kind of odd that Demyx was a fan of 'Date with Destiny'. Not that Sora could talk. He watched one episode and was hooked. He had to watch it everyday.

Kairi, Selphie, Cloud, Tifa and even Leon watched the show. In a way, Sora felt he was to blame for their sick addiction. It had nothing to do with Krad being the star, he was sure of that. It was just an unusual kind of show. Very rarely was the love life of a homosexual teen addressed in TV shows. It was a refreshing change.

Roxas sat down on the sofa as Cloud and Leon left the house. Though the huge front window Roxas saw Cloud hop on Fenrir and shook his head. It seemed a little unnecessary for them to go to work but with the way things were going, Roxas was fairly certain he knew why they were working.

Roxas glanced at Sora, who was now talking to Demyx as Krad went over Sora's homework, making notes. He could hear the girls in the kitchen, making dinner. Riku and Zexion were most likely working on their homework together and Krad would probably get one of them to help him. Axel was nowhere to be seen.

"Selphie! No!"

Everyone in the living room looked towards the kitchen expectantly. When nothing happened, except a string of curses and apologies, they went back to what they were doing like nothing had happened. If no-one was running around screaming and as long as they didn't smell smoke there was no reason to panic.

Krad finished reading over Sora's homework and glanced at Roxas. "How's yours?"

"I'll get it finished," Roxas promised as he picked up his file.

Krad grinned and turned, walking into Riku. "Make some noise, you ghost." Krad stepped around the platinum teen and ran upstairs.

Riku flopped onto the sofa beside Roxas and picked up the TV remote. He channel surfed until he settled on a repeat episode of 'Date with Destiny'. Roxas glanced at the screen and smirked. He remembered that episode. It was when Karrad was finally able to go on a date with the man of his dreams only for it to end in ruin in the next episode.

Roxas' eyes slid over to Riku and he chuckled to himself. Riku and Karrad's best friend, Salix, had a lot in common, even if Riku were to deny it. Unfortunately, Krad had picked up a few quirks from the series. Especially the main one Karrad had, which was jumping on his best friend's back.

Roxas turned his attention to the living room entrance when Kairi entered. She held a salad bowl in her hands. He grinned when she asked everyone to try a piece to see if she had the dressing right. Sora was the first and his face scrunched up like he had sucked on a lemon. Obviously too much vinegar. It was strange that she was applying to the college in hopes that she got into the culinary course.

Krad came bouncing down the stairs and looked over Kairi's shoulder. "Ooh, salad!" He took a piece of lettuce and popped it into his mouth. He stopped mid-chew to stare at nothing. His eyes watered and closed to slivers and his face flushed. He swallowed and coughed. "Maybe a little less vinegar next time."

Kairi looked disappointed as she stared into the bowl with despair. Demyx, Krad and Sora tried to cheer her up but telling her it was a common mistake and with a little extra oil it wouldn't be too bad. It seemed to work as Kairi looked up, grinning. She returned to the kitchen to try and fix the salad.

Krad wiped his eyes and sighed in relief. "You slipped right into that role, Demyx."

Sora nodded in agreement. "It was like you had never left."

Demyx beamed. "Well, none of you have changed. After four years it's like I haven't been away."

Krad and Sora exchanged glances and punched Demyx in the shoulder. "We're stronger now."

Krad turned to leave the two but stopped to whisper something into Sora's ear, who nodded with a smile. Krad stood behind Riku and gazed at the screen of the television. He frowned and looked down at Riku's messy strands.

Krad bent at the waist and wrapped his arms around Riku's shoulders. "Could you help me with my homework?"

"Eh," Riku grunted.

Roxas casually observed them as Riku continued to grunt his answers and the way Krad tried to con him into getting off the sofa. Riku didn't appear to be in a good mood. He was usually on his feet and half way up the stairs before Krad was able to finish his question. Today was different and Riku was probably just tired.

"You're such a bore at times, Riku." Krad exhaled in frustration and left the living room again.

Roxas was surprised by that. Krad didn't stop until he got what he wanted. Of course, Riku had always been a different case as Riku usually did everything that Krad wanted. The last month had been really weird between those two. The major change was seen on Halloween. No-one had any idea on what could have happened but they didn't seem as close as they used to be.

Roxas glanced at the entrance of the room and saw that he and Riku were alone. "Can't believe we're almost at the end of November already."

"Mm."

Roxas looked at Riku, whose eyes were still glued to the screen. He didn't say anything else and Roxas wasn't going to force him to speak. With a roll of his eyes, Roxas went back to finishing his homework. He decided to speak to Tifa later about the Krad/Riku problem.

* * *

End Chapter I.

**A/N:** So that's the revised first chapter. What did you guys think? I'm working on the other chapters and will have them posted ASAP! Please review.


	2. Oranges and Lemons II

**~Oranges and Lemons~**

**By:** Aerys Krystie.

* * *

Zexion left his bedroom as Demyx came down the stairs from the third floor, coughing and spluttering. No-one had entered Demyx's room since the dirty blond had left and Zexion was sure that the dust build up would be enough to kill anyone and possibly Shastealer.

Zexion stopped at the staircase on the second floor and watched as Demyx entered the bathroom, only to shout out in surprise. Zexion wasn't surprised to see Axel exit the bathroom with nothing on, towel drying his hair. With a smirk, he listened in to what they were saying, knowing they hadn't noticed him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You act like you've never seen a naked person before."

Demyx nervously rubbed his hands together. "It's not that…It's just that…Well, I…"

Zexion rolled his eyes and went downstairs. He knew that wasn't going to end well and didn't want to be around in case they got into a tussle over it. He passed Tifa, who was on her way out of the kitchen. She said goodnight and Zexion inclined his head. He picked up the glass of milk that was waiting for him on the counter. For some reason, since he was young, he presumed, Zexion had always had a hard time trying to sleep without a glass of milk before bed.

Zexion rinsed out the glass and put it in the dish wrack. He went back upstairs to his bedroom, where he took hold of a few books and went down the hall. He opened the door to a bedroom and stepped in. Krad was sitting cross-legged in a chair at his desk, pouring over the newest assignment, doing that day's homework and trying to memorize the next episode's script. He glanced over Krad's posture and wondered how the golden blond could never complain of a sore back.

Zexion placed the books he held on the corner of the desk and Krad's shoulders slumped. Zexion knew that Krad was overworked, especially with the show but it didn't change the fact that Krad was behind the rest of them by two essays and four assignments. All that plus Zexion did enjoy being the bearer of bad news. It was just a quirk of his.

"You're gonna be the death of me, Zex, I swear." Krad picked up one of the books, flipping through it. "The Black Plague? History class, right?"

"Did you need any help?"

Krad shook his head. "No. You've been more than enough help. Thanks, I really appreciate it." Krad smiled wearily and went back to his homework.

"Good night." Zexion left the room before Krad could reply.

As Zexion passed Sora's room on his way to his own, he paused as he heard something that didn't sound quite right. He listened for a little longer and his eyes widened as the words that were being spoken were repeated, almost like a mantra. It wasn't something he was expecting Sora to be practicing but he could see it coming and when it happened, everyone else would know it was bound to happen.

Zexion's attention was pulled away from Sora as Roxas stormed out of Riku's room, slamming the door. He heard Leon shout something about not slamming the doors after nine and told Roxas to go to bed. Zexion stopped the raging blond, wanting a couple of answers.

"What's wrong?"

"Riku's being a wanker."

Zexion sighed. That wasn't anything new in the last three weeks. "What's he done now?"

"He's turning emo! He's all depressed and shit and won't tell anyone why!"

"I'll talk to him tomorrow. You should –"

"What are you two still doing up?" Leon demanded, staring at the two younger teens. "Bedtime was half an hour ago."

Roxas nodded. "I was just heading there. Riku's being acting weird lately and I wanted to know what was bothering him. I thought it was gonna be best to try to get answers from him before he went to sleep."

Zexion shrugged as Leon's eyes turned to him. "I had to give Krad some books after I finished my homework." Without saying anything else or letting anyone say any more, Zexion slipped down the hall and into his bedroom.

Zexion closed the door and double checked his homework, making sure it was all done and everything was correct. He turned the light off and got undressed, opening the windows beside his headboard. He got under the covers and stared up at his dark ceiling, watching the shadows the backyard lights created on the plaster.

Zexion had a slight idea on why Riku was acting the way he was and if Zexion was right, he was going to kill the platinum teen for acting like a tool. Riku would have to be an idiot if he thought none of them had notice the change in his personality. It was as Roxas said, Riku was becoming emo. It was bad enough they had to deal with Cloud's depression. And no-one seems to know what Cloud's problem is. He's just depressed about something. Though Tifa seems to know.

Tifa. Zexion decided perhaps it might be better if Tifa spoke to Riku instead of himself. That girl always seemed to know who to get answers from anyone, like the time Krad brought Shastealer home. Zexion snickered at that. It was strange to see someone as talented as Krad try to pull the wool over someone like Tifa. It almost worked, too, until Shastealer whined. It didn't really help when Zexion was the one found holding the animal and got the blame, until Krad stepped up.

_Damn it, Riku, what the hell is your problem?_ Zexion thought about it and the more he thought about it the more clearer it became and he rolled his eyes. He had figured out Riku's problem. If he thought about it long enough, maybe, just maybe, he might be able to figure out Cloud's. Zexion decided he didn't have a decade to waste on Cloud and rolled onto his stomach, closing his eyes.

_You're an idiot. It's only a series._

* * *

In the crowded halls of the school, Demyx looked over the photographs that the photography club had taken during the year. It was obvious the crowd he hung out with dominated the school. There were very few pictures that didn't have at least one of the occupants of the house in it.

Demyx stared at the pictures of the Halloween dance. Sora looked amazing in his outfit and Kairi looked really cute as Wednesday from the Addams family. Krad stood out as an ice princess, which got a chuckle from Demyx. Only Krad would attend a dance of that sort in a girl's outfit. Roxas and Axel were dressed as mummies. Selphie was dressed as a zombie and the make-up job was really good. Tifa was a suicide victim. Cloud was dressed as a samurai warrior. Leon appeared to be a dark knight. Riku was a vampire. The scariest thing Demyx saw in the pictures was Zexion; who was dressed as Zorro and smiling.

Demyx looked at the top of the board and saw a banner that said 'The Who's Who of the School'. He looked over the pictures and read the titles.

'Student Body President: Riku'. 'The Chess Club President and Best Players: Zexion, Laxaeus and Vexen'. 'The Drama Club's Presidents and Leading Actors: Sora, Roxas, Larxene and Marluxia'. 'Photography Club President and Members: Hayner, Pence and Olette'. 'The Disciplinary Committee: Seifer, Rajin, Fujin'. 'Star of the Basketball Team: Axel'. 'Champion Swordfighter: Leon – Runner-up: Cloud'. 'Champion of Hand-to-Hand Combat: Tifa'. 'Champion Diver: Rikku'. 'Head Cheerleader and Best Dancers: Kairi, Yuna, Aerith and Yuffie'. 'Most Insane Girl: Selphie'. 'Most Insane Boy: Sephiroth'. 'The School's Best Known Person: Krad'. 'Cutest Straight Couple: Kairi and Sora'. 'Cutest Homosexual Male Couple: Krad and Riku'. 'Cutest Homosexual Female Couple: Tifa and Aerith'. 'This Year's Clown: Dark M.'

Demyx shook his head. It was like looking at the yearbook before it was printed. He was curious about the couple ones. He didn't know that any of them were together. They didn't act as though they were. Maybe it was just something that was done for fun. He would have to ask about it.

"What's wrong, Demyx?"

Demyx glanced at Selphie. "Just looking."

Selphie grinned. "Well, you're 'just looking' confused!"

"The pictures about the couples…?"

"Sora turned so red when he saw that. Oh, do you mean if they're true? No, they're not. They're only for fun. Except for Sora and Kairi. They've been together for two years now."

Demyx nodded slowly. "Well, judging by these pictures, you'd think otherwise. I mean, Riku and Krad are always together, I'm sure everyone has their suspicions about them. It doesn't surprise me that Zexion is president of the chess club."

"Yeah, he just seems the type. They're always so shady." Selphie sighed happily and turned to leave. "See you in the cafeteria!"

Demyx continued to look over the pictures. He could understand why people mistook Krad and Riku for being a couple. The picture they had up was of Krad and Riku on the bleachers. Krad sat on the row before Riku and Riku had his arms wrapped around Krad's shoulders.

Demyx grinned at the picture of Roxas and Sora. They were back-to-back, with their arms crossed, looking at the camera and grinning the way they do. It was actually a really good picture and they almost looked like twins.

Demyx continued to scan the pictures until his eyes landed on one that made him pinch himself to make sure he wasn't sleeping. In it was Krad and his so-called 'twin brother' from the series. They were wearing matching outfits, only Krad's was black and other's was white. Demyx read the title: Dark and Krad, twins always.

"We actually are twins, separated at birth, of course."

Demyx looked at the person standing beside him and blinked. It was the kid that ran into him on the skateboard yesterday. That would explain why he looked so familiar. _I had a star run into me!_ Demyx made sure not to show what he was thinking as he went back to looking over the pictures.

"Hi, again. How's the skateboarding going?"

"Awesome, actually. I haven't run anyone else down since I hit you yesterday." Dark grinned. "I had no idea you attended here. Are you a returning exchange student or something?"

Demyx thought it through and shrugged. "I guess you could say that. Took me four years to come back, though."

Dark nodded. He didn't really understand what the other guy was talking about but decided it probably wasn't any of his business. "Well, welcome back, then. Is it anything like you remember?"

Demyx paused and stared at Dark as he remembered four years ago. Nothing had changed and yet everything seemed different. Maybe because back there everything looked new and exciting and after being on his own for such a long time, nothing was like that. Demyx couldn't understand how Sora could have such a bright outlook on the world, like nothing was ever going to go wrong.

Demyx lowered his eyes and glanced at the pictures on the wall. Maybe it seems that everything was different because he had been away for four years and hadn't even bothered to write to them. They must have thought he was dead. He left no address that they could reach him at. At that time, Demyx just wanted to sever all connection between them. It was probably why only some of them were happy to see him return.

"Rough past, huh?" Dark asked, noticing that Demyx got a strange look in his eyes when he asked his previous question. Maybe it wasn't such a good subject. But Dark was fairly new himself. He had only been in the town for a little over a year.

"No. Not rough. It was all fairly smooth sailing until I got homesick and didn't want to be apart from them for any longer."

Dark continued to gaze at the blond. There was something else going on and Dark knew it wasn't his place to pry into someone else's life. But the blond seemed like such a nice guy and seemed to carry a burden or the weight of a past mistake. Dark didn't think it was fair for the guy to do that to himself. It appeared he only needed to make amends with himself.

"I'm Dark."

Demyx blinked. "Oh, I'm Demyx."

"Look, Demyx, whatever happened that made you leave and live on your own at thirteen, that was the past and you can't carry that around with you for the rest of your life, ya know?"

Demyx chuckled and shook his head. If only it was that easy to say sorry and move on. It might be if Demyx could remember the reason he left or even the real reason for his return. Homesickness had very little to do with him boarding the train. The last four years are nothing but a blur with only a few things sticking out, like his crappy job in an ice-cream store, which was run by a real scrooge. It was like he had blocked over everything else. That seemed a little redundant. Demyx was certain nothing traumatizing had happened while he was away. It might of, though.

Dark tilted his head to the side as he studied Demyx. It seemed the other teen had a lot on his mind and maybe his questions weren't best suited to be asked at lunch on a school day. Dark pulled out a small notebook and a pen. He scribbled his number down and handed it to Demyx.

"If you ever want to talk about what's on your mind or just anything, call me. I'm not in the show often, so I usually have a lot of free time." Dark grinned as Demyx took the piece of paper, staring at it.

"Thanks, Dark. Funny how the only person that's offered to listen to me is a guy that ran me down on a skateboard."

Dark laughed. "Sometimes, if was meant to be, it was meant to be. Anyway, it's nearly the end of lunch and we should probably get something to eat."

Demyx cast another glance at the pictures and nodded. So many fond memories that he wasn't a part of. It kind of hurt, even though he knew he'd brought it upon himself for leaving. There was only seven months of school left and Demyx hadn't even thought about college yet and wondered what everyone else was going to do. It could wait. He walked alongside of Dark towards the cafeteria, still buried in his thoughts.

* * *

Tifa sighed heavily as she pulled a tray out of the oven. The burst of hot air was annoying on a day as humid as that. She placed it on the stove and peeled back the tinfoil. She heard someone in the kitchen and didn't bother to check who it was. As long as they didn't try some stupid prank, everyone would live to see another day. She heard the person go into the cookie jar and figured it was Riku.

Tifa picked up a skewer and poked the roast that was sizzling at her. She put some more herbs on the meat, replaced the tinfoil and put it back into the oven, lowering the heat slightly. She wiped down the counters and turned around, to find Krad standing behind her. He looked nervous and Tifa was worried instantly. Tifa was used to being the faux mother of the group. They all, including Leon, needed someone to make sure everything was in order.

Tifa placed her hands on Krad's shoulder and turned him around, pointing him in the direction of a medium sized table in the kitchen, normally used for rolling out pasta or for the girls to sit down and talk while they waited on dinner. Now it seemed that it was going to be turned into a conference table, too. Not many of the males entered the kitchen, unless they were looking for a snack.

Tifa sat Krad down, even though he didn't need to be treated like that. Sometimes Tifa forgot that everyone in the house was capable of taking care of themselves if they really had to. She sat down opposite of the blond and waited for him to start talking. She knew it could take a while and knew that there was no point in trying to rush it. If she did that, it could make her look impatient and she didn't want any of them to think they were wasting her time.

Krad chewed his lower lip as he tried to find the right words to start the whole thing. He wasn't entirely sure if Tifa could help but he just wanted to talk to someone. He glanced around the kitchen and wondered if maybe it could wait until after the dishes were down and Tifa had finished her workout. But by that point, Tifa might be too tired to listen to his ramblings.

"Krad, if you're not ready to talk now…You know I won't be going anywhere." Tifa grinned, trying to break the ice.

Krad giggled a little and raised his head, looking into her ruby eyes. "I think I've pissed Riku off."

Tifa nodded. She knew what he was talking about. Everyone knew there was something bothering Riku, who refused to talk about it. Tifa had even threatened to take something very precious to him and he still tried to get her out of his bedroom. Maybe she could find out what it actually was. Though, she doubted Krad could have done anything on purpose. It wasn't in any of their natures to be outright nasty to someone else in the house. But there were exceptions for accidents, like what Demyx did four years ago.

"Why do you say that?" Tifa asked softly as she got up and went to the fridge, getting out two bottles of soda. She handed one to Krad as she sat down again.

Krad accepted the beverage and opened it. "I know he's been really cold towards everyone and I don't even know why I think it was something I did. I mean, I don't think I've done anything out of the ordinary. I might have, without realizing it." He took a mouthful of the drink. "Is that possible?"

"Of course it is. Sometimes the brain processor reworks something and you say something you weren't meant to. But I don't think you should be feeling guilty about it, Krad. It's most likely not your fault. Haven't you noticed it's gotten worse in the last two days, since Demyx returned? I'm not blaming Demyx; I'm just saying that whatever it is bothering Riku is probably fueled by the memories of what happened around this time, four years ago." Tifa reached across the table and took hold of Krad's hand, squeezing it gently.

Krad lowered his eyes. He hoped it was because of what happened back then that was making Riku act that way. It might be the source of the platinum teen's problem but Krad felt there was something else that was gnawing away at his best friend. And Krad didn't like it. He didn't like not being able to do anything, except sit back and wait for it to unfold. But Riku wasn't Krad's main problem, either; he was just part of the main problem.

"What do you do if you like someone and you're not sure if they like you back that way?" he blurted out.

Tifa was taken aback, there was no denying it. She wasn't quite expecting a love problem to be happening right under her nose. Everyone in the house was good looking enough to not have to worry about things like that. Unless Krad liked someone in the house and was scared of how it was going to affect the way things happened.

"Well, it depends on the person. Everyone here has their own personality. It would be impossible to tell with someone like Leon or Cloud or Zexion. Someone like Axel wouldn't keep it hidden and neither would Selphie. You already know that Sora and Kairi are together. Roxas might be a little shy about admitting it. The only thing I can think of is if you tell whoever you like that you like them. The worst thing that can happen is that they tell you they're not interested." Tifa smiled kindly, hoping she was helping and not making it any worse.

"What about someone like…Riku?"

"Well, Riku, at the moment, would probably tell you to shove it. But normal Riku would probably try to let you down gently, if he wasn't interested. If he was, I think he might tell you if you confessed to him."

Krad thought it through. "So, I just need to tell the person that I like them, like more than a friend and see how they take it?"

"If it's someone in the house, Krad, no-one is going to tell you to go fuck yourself, if that's what you're worried about. We've been living together long enough for us all to know what everyone is like. It's probably why I know so much about you all." Tifa bit back a giggle.

"So you admit you don't have a sixth sense!" Demyx said as he entered the kitchen.

"I never said I did. I just happen to know what you're thinking. Like right now you're wondering when dinner will be ready. At six, like always," Tifa informed him.

Demyx sniffed his way over to the oven and knelt in front of it. "Aww, but I want it now!" he whined, like a five-year-old.

Tifa stood and moved behind Demyx. "I know but it's not ready now. Have you done your homework?"

Demyx shifted slightly. "Almost, I just need a little help with trigonometry. I don't even know why I sighed up for that class." Demyx knew why he sighed up for that class but he wasn't about to reveal it.

"Have a snack for now, okay?" Tifa glanced at the table and saw that Krad had left and sighed.

Demyx stood and faced Tifa. "Is Krad okay? He always seems to be somewhere else."

Tifa nodded. "I think he'll be fine. He's just going through some normal teenage problems, thank god. A lot better than when Sora turned evil and Axel believed he could control fire."

"I remember thinking I could control water," Demyx said with a shrug.

"Now I understand why you call this place Twilight's Insane Asylum. If anyone knew about what happened between these walls, we would all probably be locked up for good. So how are you, Demyx? Settling in okay?"

Demyx looked at his shoes and nodded. "Well as okay as possible," he replied as he wandered over to the fridge and opened it, staring at the contents. He pulled out an orange and began attempting to peel it. He cursed himself for not having any nails.

Tifa watched Demyx and laughed. It was just the same four years back. Demyx wasn't a nail biter; he just got agitated with his nails and ripped them off. As a result, he could never peel oranges and had to get someone else to do it for him. Tifa used to cut it up into eights for him. It took her a while to get out of that habit and asked herself why she bothered doing that, when she knew Demyx would be back.

Tifa took the orange off Demyx and cut it up, placing it the segments on a plate and handing it back to the boy. "You should probably think about cutting your nails at a length that doesn't annoy you and allows you to finally learn how to peel an orange."

Demyx quickly protested the last part. "I know how to peel an orange! I've seen everyone else do it." He nodded defiantly and Tifa laughed again.

As Demyx shoved one of the cutlets into his mouth, Tifa took it as an option to ask, "Then how do you peel one?"

Demyx glared at her around the fruit. True, he'd never peeled his own orange and he wasn't all that wise on how to peel one but he wasn't going to let Tifa win. But if he fought it then that meant his defeat would only be worse. Instead, he hung his head in shame, letting Tifa know he had no idea on how to peel the fruit. He pulled the skin off and ate the sweet flesh. He wiped his chin.

"Okay, so it's been a while. I'm sure I'm not too old to learn."

Tifa laughed and ushered Demyx out of the kitchen as Selphie bounded in. "No-one ever is."

Demyx left the kitchen and went into the living room, sitting on the sofa, cradling the plate the orange was on. He stared at the television as Sora played a fighting game against Roxas. Their yelling and cheering faded away as Demyx slipped into his own thoughts. He thought about what could be bothering Krad and Riku. Especially Riku.

After the little talk they had yesterday, Demyx noticed a major change in the way Riku regarded everyone, himself included. He wasn't going to think too much on it because as far as Demyx could remember, Riku always had a problem at some point of the year that he seemed to take out on everyone else. Still it was amazing that the family seemed to be falling apart, yet they remained strong. Was it falling apart or was it just Riku?

Demyx was brought out of his thoughts as someone screamed. He got to his feet, dropping the plate that only had the peels left and followed Sora and Roxas upstairs to the second bathroom. Kairi and Axel were in there and so was Shastealer. It appeared that Kairi was putting black tips on Axel's hair and Shastealer had knocked over the container holding the dye. The white cat now had bits of black dye on its fur. The spots of black dye seemed to go well with the black lining on the back of the cat's ears but they all knew Krad wouldn't see it that way.

Demyx bit back a laugh as Axel grabbed the cat and held it up the shower, hissing in pain as Shastealer squirmed and wriggled and growled, trying to get free of the torture. Sora and Roxas were laughing hysterically. Zexion shook his head, muttering something about Krad having kittens when he saw what had happened to his cat. Even Leon and Cloud were smirking at the scene. Tifa joined them and gasped, trying to remain serious as she knew it was only a matter of time before Krad saw what had happened.

Axel turned the shower off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around the shivering animal. He tried to dry the cat as much as possible but it appeared that Shastealer was going to have none of it as it got free and streaked out of the bathroom and into someone's bedroom. Demyx wondered where Krad was. He thought the golden blond would have been up to see what was happening. It was then that Demyx realized that Riku wasn't there, either.

"Why the hell is my cat wet?" Krad shrieked from his bedroom.

Everyone looked at Axel, silently picking him to be the one to go into Krad's bedroom and face his wrath. The redhead groaned and exited the bathroom, everyone following to Krad's room. They all knew Axel was only going to make it worse and wanted to hear it. It was a little sadistic but it was one of the best forms of entertainment around the house.

Axel stepped, meekly, into the bedroom, looking at Krad, who was holding Shastealer. Axel was grateful he had managed to get the dye off the cat before it had left more coloring. _Stupid cat,_ he thought grumpily at the animal.

"Yeah…Kairi left the container of dye on the basin and Shastealer jumped up, knocked it over and got some of the dye on his fur. So I shoved him under the shower to try and wash it off," Axel explained, hoping not to get into anymore trouble.

Krad stared at Axel as though the redhead had just said he murdered Shastealer. "Axel, were you dropped on your head at birth, you moron?"

"What the fuck? I tried to help! Did Shastealer's mother try to kill him at birth for being so stupid? You don't know because you rescued him! He might have been kicked out of the litter!"

Krad placed Shastealer on his bed and got to his feet. "You could have killed him, you twat! Being shoved under a cold shower could have sent him into shock. Is thinking impossible for you?"

Axel kicked the door closed, not wanting anyone to see what was about to happen. Some of them were a little too mentally young to see any sort of real violence again. Some of them hadn't gotten over the first time, yet. At least they were making good progress and now this had to happen. It wouldn't be the first time Axel and Krad had gotten into fisticuffs over a somewhat trivial matter.

Leon raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "I guess the show is over. Kairi, would you mind cleaning up the mess Shastealer made in the bathroom before it stains anymore?"

Kairi nodded and went back to the bathroom as everyone dispersed, heading back to wherever they came from when Kairi screamed. Demyx went back to the living with Sora and Roxas and picked up the plate. He stared at the peels and noticed the way Sora and Roxas decided it was time for them to do their homework. Demyx chortled as he cleaned up the small mess. _There's no place like home,_ he thought as he heard a bedroom door slam and footsteps stomping up to the third floor and figured it was Axel. _Yup, really no place like home._

* * *

End Chapter II.

**A/N:** Now, please, before you blow up at me about the cutest gay male couple, I ran it through a couple of friends and they decided that Axel/Roxas is as overused as Vitamin C at graduations. So, please keep that in mind before you start telling me that you preferred that pairing. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there won't be any of that in this story. If you feel the need to abandon ship, please do but leave a few lifeboats for the others who wish to jump later on.

With that said, please review and be gentle about it. I already know it sucks.


	3. Oranges and Lemons III

**~Oranges and Lemons~**

**By:** Aerys Krystie.

* * *

A month after Shastealer almost got a new look, everything settled down again. Axel and Krad were no longer trying to glare each other to death. They were no longer pulling somewhat dangerous pranks on each other and the food fights had stopped; something that Tifa was really grateful for. She had gotten annoyed after the first three and from there her patience was wearing thin. But during those three, everyone had had a good time, almost everyone. Leon had gotten up and left the table. Even Zexion participated in them and won one of them.

Everything had gone back to normal in time for Christmas, which everyone was happy about. No-one wanted anyone to be in a bad mood for the joyous day and Roxas was happy about it, as he stared out one of the frosted living room windows. It was going to be a white Christmas and the forest surrounding the house looked amazingly beautiful.

Demyx placed his gifts beneath the huge tree in a corner of the living room and stepped back to admire it. Riku walked past him, placing the presents around the base of the tree, also. He glanced at Demyx. Riku seemed to have calmed down and still hadn't told anyone what was bothering him. Now he just tells them that it's past and they needn't worry about it anymore. Tifa and Krad were still having a slight problem believing that but never said anything to the platinum teen, knowing he would just explode and probably go back into the morbid mood again.

"_Deck the halls with boughs of holly,  
__Fa la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la.  
_'_Tis the season to be jolly,  
__Fa, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la._"

Demyx looked over his shoulder as Krad entered the living room, his arms full. He remembered that Krad had been a part of the church choir and was always in the school musical that was being presented. Over the years it seemed that Krad's voice had only gotten better.

Demyx watched as Krad placed the brightly wrapped parcels beneath the tree and smiled happily. That time of year seemed to bring out the best in everyone, including Zexion. Demyx wondered how Dark would be spending Christmas. Demyx had taken Dark up on his offer for someone to talk to, several times a week, actually.

Demyx never spoke about what was bothering him. Instead they spoke for hours about nothing and everything, they speculated on some things and Demyx had invited Dark around often enough for the celebrity to enter the house as though it was his own. Demyx figured that Dark had been around before as he didn't need the tour and assumed Krad had brought him around when they found out they were twins. Which was something that Demyx found odd; Dark and Krad were rarely seen together and Demyx knew they ran in different cliques but he would have thought they'd find time to spend together. Demyx put it down to their busy schedules.

"Demyx, your boyfriend is here," Axel teased.

Demyx looked over Roxas's head and saw Dark approaching the house, packages in his arms. Demyx's eyes widened as he realized he hadn't gotten Dark a gift and knew that there was nothing in his bedroom that he could give away. Or maybe there was, if Demyx was able to get that set of draws down two flights of stairs, without anyone noticing. _No,_ Demyx thought, _that's just stupid. He's probably got a set anyway. Maybe…_Demyx ran out of ideas after the set of draws and settled for picking something up the next day.

Demyx went to the door and opened it. "Hey," he greeted.

Dark grinned, returning the greeting and stepped into the house, shaking the snow from his hair. "Wow, it sucks out there. Where's your tree?"

Demyx closed the door and lead Dark into the living room, where the dark haired teen put his presents. It seemed no-one was expecting him to bring gifts, except Krad, who handed his to Dark. But that was always what Krad was like. He brought for _everyone_. Even if he'd only met them once, they were on the Christmas card list and they were entitled to a gift from him. Sometimes, Demyx found it a little scary.

Demyx left the living room as Dark and Krad got into a discussion and went out to the front porch. He froze when he caught the smell of smoke and looked to the end of the porch and saw Riku sitting on the railing, staring at him. Demyx was a little more than surprised. He could have sworn he was the only smoker in the house. Thankfully no-one cared if he was an underage smoker, as long as he could afford them without having to resort to crime to get the money for them and as long as he didn't force it onto others.

Demyx went to the where Riku was sitting, pulling out his own cigarettes and lighting one. He rested his back against the banister and stared at the porch floor. Demyx really wanted to interrogate Riku on what his problem had been the last few weeks but wasn't sure how it would go and didn't want to cause a rift. Instead, he settled for talking about the weather.

"Bad weather, right?"

Riku snorted. "Yeah, I guess so." Riku hoped off the railing and faced Demyx, who tried to ignore the piercing eyes. "I know what you really want to ask, Demyx. How stupid do you think I am?"

Demyx bit back a retort and shrugged. "Well, it kinda did seem a little random for you to go into that sort of mood. Everyone was worried, you know."

"Yeah, I know. But Cloud is constantly depressed about something and no-one tackles him about his problems."

Demyx snickered. "That's because no-one wants to waste thirty years of their life trying to sort him out. He hasn't changed and I don't think he ever will. He'll always find something to be depressed about. We all know that, which is why we're not running around trying to help him. He knows we're here if he ever wants to talk. You, on the other hand, rarely get depressed and moody."

Riku slipped his hands into the front pocket of the jumper he was wearing. "Everyone gets like that. You were probably like that for four years, until you moved back here. But you don't remember, do you?"

Demyx's head snapped around to face Riku, staring at him. How could he possibly know that? Demyx knew he was an open person but not even Tifa had approached him about the previous four years so he thought he had kept it hidden. But if Riku had picked up on it then there wasn't a shadow of a doubt that Tifa knew and was too busy to harass him about it.

"How do you know that? Not even Tifa has spoken to me about those missing years."

"That's because there's only one other person who knows those years are missing and no-one in this house. Dark spoke to me about it. He's worried about you and wants to make sure you're being taken care of. I told him that unless you talk to me first, there's no way in hell I'm going to go prying into your life. After all, you're the one that ditched us."

Demyx sighed and looked away from Riku. "Yeah, I know. It's my entire fault and there's nothing I can do to make it up to you lot. I know that but I'm not going to stop until I can kind of make it up."

Riku flicked the finished cigarette onto the snow covered lawn, watching as it sunk a little and was put out. "No-one expects that from you. I can see why Dark is so worried about you. You're scared you're going to make the same mistakes. I'll let you in on a little secret, though, Demyx."

Demyx looked back Riku, frowning slightly. "You, sharing a secret with me?"

"We learn from our mistakes. Stop acting like a twit and stop worrying about the damn past. It's gone and it's not hurting anyone, not anymore. The sooner you get over it, the sooner you can actually live your life. And you're going on about Cloud always being depressed? You and he have a lot in common. You two are always sulking about something's that's passed. Something you wish you could change but have no hope of doing."

Demyx winced slightly at Riku's words. He knew where the platinum teen was coming from. They all had something in their pasts they wanted to change and make better but they all also knew that doing that would mean they would probably never be as close as they were. They wouldn't be who they were. Everything would be messed and no-one was willing to give anyone up.

"That's easy for you or anyone else to say. You all probably remember what it is that you want to change or what you wish you could take back. I don't. I can't even remember why I left."

Riku scoffed. "You're joking, right?" He saw the look on Demyx's face and decided not to be a prick about it. "Then perhaps it's best you don't. I think you might have blocked it from memory and if you have, no-one blames you."

Demyx rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone insist on protecting me? I think I'm mature enough to know what I did so I can pay my dues and get on with life, as you put it."

Riku went to speak when he saw Dark step onto the porch. "It's not worth remembering. We all block things and there's always a good reason for it. Take my word and don't try to resurface it. You won't like it." He walked past Demyx and went back into the house.

Demyx followed Riku and saw why he left. He smiled at Dark, who zipped up his hoodie. Dark walked up to Demyx and rested his elbows on the railing, staring out over the whiteness of the yard and the forest. He had only heard what Riku had said and presumed Riku was trying to protect, as Demyx said everyone else had been doing.

"He might have a point," Dark remarked.

Demyx looked at the cigarette butt between his fingers and dropped it into a tin that served as the ashtray. He turned around and copied Dark's posture. He knew Riku had a point but it was still annoying that everyone knew what had happened and he didn't. After all, it had something to with him and it was enough of a reason to leave.

"It's our pasts that define us as people and outline our futures," Demyx muttered.

"And if something from the past is blocked it's so it doesn't interfere with the future. Obviously if you had remembered whatever it is that you've forgotten, you wouldn't be who you are and that's probably a good thing. If you could remember what it is, do you think it would change who you are or do you think it would make you feel whole? What, _exactly_, is your reason for wanting to know?"

Demyx thought it through. He didn't know why he was so desperately trying to figure it out. Maybe it was so he knew why he turned out the way he did or maybe it was because he felt a part of him was missing and it was that part of his past. No, that was just stupid. Demyx felt whole, there was nothing missing. So it wasn't that.

"Just so I know. And maybe if I know that part, then maybe the last four years will begin to show themselves to me, too. It isn't just that small part that's missing; it's the deciding factors of my life that are missing. When I was on my own, I'm pretty sure I must have done something more than just sold ice-cream for a duck."

Dark studied Demyx's portrait. "That seems comfortable. Maybe that's why that's all you remember because you weren't comfortable with what was happening around you."

Demyx turned his head towards Dark. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"They aren't answers, Demyx. They're just suggestions. No questions were asked. But if they were, then, yeah, most likely." Dark grinned.

Demyx chuckled and nodded. "You and Krad have that in common."

Dark's hand went to the pocket of the jeans he was wearing and he pulled out a phone, which was vibrating. "It's my mom. Yeah? Really? I didn't realize the time. Yuh, I'll be home as soon as possible. Okay. Love you, too." He hung up and sighed sadly. "Well, I guess this is where I leave." Dark straightened.

"If your mom's waiting, then yeah, you better. I'll call you tomorrow."

Dark grinned and headed towards the stairs of the porch, paused and glanced over his shoulder. He looked like he was going to say something but decided against it and continued on his way, waving as he disappeared through the gate. Demyx lowered his eyes. Life sucked sometimes.

* * *

It was the first week of Christmas break and Roxas was spending it the way he spent any break from school, playing mahjong, on the small chess table set up in the backyard, a game that he thoroughly enjoyed and rarely got to spend many hours playing. So, you can only imagine his irritation when Axel runs out of the laundry door, Sora following, both yelling insanely about something.

Roxas's blood pressure went up further when Kairi and Krad came out. Something was interesting was Zexion got in on it as well. Roxas guessed that Leon was at work and Tifa was in the bathroom and neither of them came out to stop whatever was happening. Roxas tried to ignore the group and was doing good. But Sora must have run at Axel, who sidestepped and Sora crashed into the table.

Roxas lowered his head, his hair shielding his eyes as he got to his feet. He was beyond irritated. He was outright furious at those idiots, who seemed to have a difficult time acting civil. It was inconsiderate and childish and not needed. He raised his head, glaring at everyone. They stopped what they were doing to stare at blue eyed teen. They knew they were in for it.

"Alright, who needs a Roxas bitch slap?"

"Not it." Sora.

"Not it." Kairi.

"Not it." Krad.

"Not it." Axel.

"Not it." Zexion.

For some reason, Demyx came running out of the house, waving something. He stopped dead when he heard Zexion say 'not it' and turned quickly to go back in. He would have succeeded but Roxas was a lot faster than they gave him credit for. He grabbed Demyx by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the rosebushes. That was a 'Roxas Bitch Slap'.

Axel, Kairi, Krad, Sora and Zexion ran back into the house and Demyx pulled himself to his feet, covered in scratches. He made his way, cautiously, towards the laundry door and closed it. Like everyone else, Demyx didn't want to be in the backyard until Roxas had calmed down and finished his game of mahjong. It wasn't really their fault they had forgotten he was playing it.

With the nuisances gone, Roxas returned to his game. His eyes glanced over the tiles and removed a pair of three bamboos. He groaned. Thanks to the morons, he'd lost all concentration on the game and packed away the tiles. It was still a nice to be outdoors so when the tiles were neatly packed away, Roxas rested his head on his arms and looked at the little frozen pond beside the table.

Being alone, Roxas found himself thinking about college. He had applied at Atlantica along with Sora and Kairi. It was apparently the best school for acting, directing and singing. Krad was going to be attending Port Royal, supposedly with Dark. Riku was staying and attending Twilight College. Tifa was following Cloud to Radiant Gardens. Leon was heading to Olympus to work more on his sword fighting. Zexion was heading to some college called Space Paranoids, which seemed a little odd to Roxas. And Selphie would head off to Pride Rock, to do nature work.

Roxas turned his head to rest his chin on his wrists, staring ahead. It seemed that everyone was branching off. It pained Roxas a little, knowing that they would probably all drop out of contact. They only remaining in the town they'd all come to call home was Riku. If Roxas didn't them better, he would say they were all itching to get away from Twilight Town and get as far away as possible.

Roxas sighed, watching his breath puff in front of him. He began to shiver and looked up. He hadn't noticed the clouds that'd come over and blocked out the sun. Not that it matter. Roxas wasn't going to be heading inside anytime soon. He would sit out there, through the snow and whatever that was heading their way. He still had a lot of thinking to do and he knew it wouldn't be possible to have any coherent thoughts inside the house.

Roxas sat back, startled when Shastealer leapt onto the table, staring at him with his mix-matched eyes. With his winter coat, Shastealer looked twice as fluffy and Roxas wondered how long it had been that thick. He picked the cat up and cuddled it. Shastealer didn't mind and rearranged himself to be more comfortable. Roxas scratched the feline behind the ear as he thought Shastealer's owner, moving away and leaving him behind. He was certain Krad would find a way to take the animal with him and Roxas realized he would miss the cat, also.

Roxas wasn't all that thrilled when Krad first brought Shastealer home, two years ago. But the Burmese cross has made an impact on everyone. It was strange that before the cat, there were never any pets in the house. Shastealer made the house feel more like a home and Sora had been talking about getting a dog but that was quickly shot down as they would all be leaving for college in a few short months and it wouldn't be fair on the animal to have one home and dumped off on someone else when they leave. Sora had pouted but he understood.

Roxas rested his chin on top of the cat's head, sighing through his nose. Everything at that time seemed to be moving like a dream and Roxas didn't know why everything felt so surreal or why he felt he had cotton in his head. That was probably what was making everything seem like a dream.

Roxas turned his attention to the laundry door as it opened and Demyx and Dark stepped onto the back porch, sitting at the small table. Shastealer seemed to have grown bored with Roxas and jumped out of his arms, taking his time to walk over to the other two people now in the backyard. If it wasn't for the black lines on the ears, Shastealer would have blended into the snow covered ground.

Roxas picked up the case containing the mahjong tiles and went into the house, letting Dark and Demyx have some privacy. Roxas regretted it as soon as he heard Krad scream, a high-pitch, grating sound that would put a horror movie actress to shame. Roxas didn't want to know what Axel was doing to the golden blond, as he went up to his bedroom to put the tiles away. He kicked the door closed and flopped onto his bed. If anything, at least the home was always active and there was _never_ a dull moment.

"Yeah?" Roxas called when there was a knock at his door.

The door opened and closed and Roxas didn't care who it was. "Everything okay, Roxas? You seem kind of…depressed?"

Roxas turned around and sat up, looking at Sora. "Just thinking about stuff."

"Like all of us separating and probably not having any contact with each other?"

Roxas's eyes widened a fraction. He decided Sora had been thinking the same thing. "Mm."

Sora sat down on the bed also, looking at an ancient picture on the desk. It was a family photo, taken four years ago, when the family first divided. Sora lowered his eyes. He was heading off to college with his best friend and the love of his life but, in a way, he was hoping they would attend the same college or be closer to each other.

"Do you really think we'll all stop talking to each other?" Sora asked, turning his gaze to the blond.

Roxas shrugged. "Most likely. I mean, look at when Demyx left. He left no address and he never wrote or called once. We might keep in touch for the first couple of months, but after that, we'll all be busy with our courses and we'll probably keep pushing responding to letters or emails or phone calls to another day until we stop thinking about it all together."

Sora nodded. When put like that, it did seem inevitable that contact would stop. It was a bit of a depressing thought and if that was what Roxas was thinking about, it's no wonder that he was acting disheartened. Sora knew that at some point, that would cross everyone's mind. He also knew that they'd all have to find a way of coping with it. It could be why there wasn't as much contact between as there had been in the past.

When Demyx left, that seemed to create a crack and it was getting wider and wider. No-one blamed Demyx for what he did and none of them were expecting him to leave because of it. They were certain that was the reason he left. When Sora reflected on that year that was the only major problem would be cause enough for Demyx to leave. _He must be ashamed of it,_ Sora thought.

Sure, when Demyx returned some of them were a little peeved at him for leaving but most of them were grateful to see that he was still alive. Zexion, even though he didn't show it, was the one most relieved to see him. They all knew Zexion blamed himself for Demyx's disappearance, again he didn't voice it. Still, Sora was curious as to why Demyx suddenly decided to return. Surely Demyx knew they would be attending different colleges and wouldn't be together for much longer.

Sora glanced at the photo again. "As crazy as it sounds, I think we'll all meet up again, unexpectedly. Something will bring us back together, probably the same thing that brought us together in the first place."

Roxas looked at the same picture Sora was and smiled. He had no idea what brought the family together in the first place; no-one does. No-one ever thought about it, they all just met up randomly and moved in together. Attended the same school. Zexion had been offered a place at Twilight's academically advanced school but had declined the offer.

Roxas found it bizarre that back then, they would have done anything to remain together and now they all seemed to want to get away from each other. They acted like everyone carried the plague. In a way, Demyx was to blame for all of this. If he hadn't of left in the first place, had not of run from his problems, none of them would have felt abandoned. None of them would've felt the need to depend on themselves and not let anyone else get too close.

It was around that time that everyone began keeping secrets. Before Demyx left, Axel proudly admitted he gay but Roxas had yet to let anyone know he was bisexual. He only discovered that little fact about himself a few years ago. No-one else had said anything about their sexuality. Seeing as they were best friends, Roxas decided now might be a good time to let Sora know.

"I'm bi."

Sora turned and stared at Roxas. "Okay. Random."

"Just thought I'd let you know. I've know for a while now. I just never bothered to say it."

Sora fell back onto the bed, laughing. "In that case," he started, catching his breath, "I'm going to ask Kairi to marry me."

"You haven't told anyone that?"

"You didn't tell anyone you wanted the best of both worlds."

"That's pathetic compared to asking someone to be your wife, you nimrod."

Sora shrugged. "I guess. But it's not like anyone is sharing anything these days. You know, when Demyx returned, I was kind of hoping it would go back to normal. If anything, I think it's gotten worse. It got a little better but then it was like something else happened. Like something really huge went down and whoever did it hasn't said anything about it."

Roxas went to speak when Leon's voice boomed through the house, calling out for Krad. Roxas and Sora looked at each other for a second before making a dash for the door. It was ripped open and they took their places on the second floor landing, looking down, seeing Leon standing at the base of the stairs, glaring up them. They knew something really bad had to have happened for that look of vehemence to be seen on Leon's face.

They watched as Krad meekly came out of the kitchen, trying to look innocent and trying not to look terrified. Roxas frowned slightly, wondering what it was that Krad could have done to get Leon so angry and why he'd done it or even what was going on. There were so many questions and it was taking them forever to get to the answers. As normal, everyone else appeared on the second floor landing, waiting to find out what was happening.

"I just got off the phone with the producer of 'Date with Destiny'. He wanted me to tell you he would double your salary if you went back to work for him. He says he's been calling for weeks, trying to get you back and you keep avoiding him."

Everyone on the landing gasped. That wasn't like Krad. He loved being on that show and as far as anyone could tell, there was no reason for him wanting to leave. His grades weren't that bad that he had to quit the show. At least, everyone was sure they weren't.

"Yeah, and?"

"When did you quit? Why did you quit? Why the fuck didn't you tell any of us?" Axel asked.

Krad glared up at the redhead. "I quit about two weeks ago because I couldn't be bothered trying to juggle that with my failing grades. If my grades got any worse, my acceptance to Port Royal would be denied. And I didn't tell anyone because chances are, I would have gotten the beating of a lifetime." Krad turned his eyes to Leon. "_You're_ the one that's been riding me about doing better at school. Well, now I am. I'm back to being a straight A student."

Tifa walked down the stairs, standing beside Leon. "Krad, it's still something you should have shared with us. Your reasons are valid enough for us to have supported you. We would have helped you. You could have asked the teachers to go a little lighter on you because of your schedule."

Krad sighed in frustration. "I was through with that show. It was like every other soap opera. I would have continued having flings left and right, lost my virginity to some fucktard that only went out with me to sleep with sleep with, gotten into a fight with my best friend and spent the next six or seven _seasons_ not episodes, trying to get him to go out with me and somewhere along the line probably getting an addiction to some illegal drug. I don't want to be in that series when I'm thirty, telling my adopted son that it's perfectly fine to be attracted to other boys."

"So instead of being the one that gets screwed, you want to become a lawyer so you can screw other people?" Leon demanded, a little calmer than before. "At least a soap opera is constant, steady work. Especially if you're the main character."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Season four, they'll probably introduce a series of subplots revolving around Salix trying to discard his love for Karrad blah, blah, blah, blah."

Tifa shook her head. "You still should have told us, Krad."

"Why? So you could all get a chance to try and talk me into going back? I think not."

Tifa looked like she was about to punch Krad if he didn't watch his words. "No, because we're a family and so we could make sure you were making the right decision."

Krad scoffed and shook his head. "We haven't been a family for four years," Roxas said.

Everyone turned their attention to Roxas, who stood resolute. He wasn't going to back down and everyone was thinking it. Tifa was trying to keep up the illusion they were a family still but it wasn't working. With it said, maybe they could all sit down and talk things through so they could have a decent Christmas. The tension between them all was becoming too much and sooner or later they were all going to explode and probably some very nasty things to each other.

"There is a problem here," Roxas continued. "And it began when Demyx left. We can't continue on like there's nothing wrong because everything is wrong. Tifa, I know you're trying your hardest to keep us together but it's failing. We all have a problem with each other and it needs to be sorted out before it ends in violence."

Kairi nodded. "I agree. Things have been screwy for too long and all we've done is try to ignore the problems, hoping they'll go away, when it's only made them worse. We need to sort this out now."

"Okay. Everyone, into the living room and no arguing over who sits where," Leon ordered, rubbing his temples. _The shit has hit the fan._

* * *

End Chapter III.

**A/N:** Yeah…I still don't know what's going to happen. I have no plan for this story anymore. Sorry, guys.

Revision on this chapter will be happening; I don't like how it ended. Ideas are welcome! Chapter four on hiatus until chapter three is pieced together smoothly.


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